Do you remember these little gems?
Raleigh Grifter, Raleigh Chopper, Raleigh Tomahawk, Raleigh Striker and Raleigh Boxer?

I never actually owned any of the above 'cause we weren't affluent enough, but many a time I wracked my balls on my neighbor's Grifter. That slow fuse burn... knowing that in 30 seconds that feeling would crawl up into your gut and explode into that dull ache...

Yep I had a Raleigh Striker when I was around 5 or so.

The best bike I ever owned was a mountain bike called a Raleigh Montage, it was proper class.

unfortunately it got nicked......

The chopper had gay handlebars. The Striker was best because of it back peddle rear brake which made skidding easy, needed lots of tires though.

The 2005 factory reproductions of the chopper can be found on craigslist for around $400 used !!

I always had second hand bikes - if I recall correctly I was even stuck with a girls bike for a time, so I didn't have one either. Of course, maybe that's why I'm a cyclist now - because I can afford the decent bike I never had as a kid. I just convinced my wife that we can save $100 a month until my 40th birthday and then I'll have about $6000 to spend on a new bike.

I only remember being slightly jealous about friends who had them - they were slow bikes so I could always go faster on mine and I pretended that's what counted.

my brother had a red Chopper (oo-er!)
and I had a little yellow Chipper

ahhh...memories of me trying to catch up with him, and him pedalling crazy fast to lose his annoying little sister

You don't need $6000 for a new bike.

I had my sister's old bike. It was red and blue with white handlebar grips and fat white tyres.

The first bike I had of my own was a Raleigh Sprint, ten speed. Folks got it for me to do my paper round. I was actually quicker at running around than I was at cycling.
First day of using the bike for my round, I pulled out the driveway, turned right down the hill and, while looking down fiddling with the gears, I cycled into the back of my neighbors parked VW Beetle.
Went ass over tit and bent the front forks. This was in the days before the Internet and spare parts...

Remember that Yellow Pages advert for the kid with the racer? "Saddle's like a razor blade"/"I were right about that saddle"...

JR Hartley for the win.

no, you need $4k for a new bike and $2k for a week in the Carribean

that way you get a top new bike and a very happy misses.

Fly fishing by JR Hartley.

Nobody needs most of the things they have. I, personally, would like to spend my hard earned (well, ok not that hard) money on a decent bike. My current one cost $3000 so next time I want an upgrade. No big deal.

I already have a very happy misses

Ourkid had one of these and of course I borrowed it a few times...

till I got my very own BMX with stunt nuts and mag wheels....god that was a cool bike...

Can i have your old one then?

probably ended up in Reading.



Wow... the memories. we had one stateside (dad brought one over once).

the craziness here is that at the end of semester, all one has to do is go dumpster diving around the uni campus... its incredible what you can sometimes walk away with - years ago, wheeled away a Cannondale Raven mountain bike - barely a scratch on it.

Heck you could get a used Harley for that and have some real fun.